Insights for luxury retailers to reach customers globally

• Published in: Marketing intelligence & planning Vol. 38; no. 7; pp. 797 - 811
• Main Authors: Jebarajakirthy, Charles, Yadav, Rambalak, Shankar, Amit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 05.10.2020; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Brand names; Consumer behavior; Consumers; Consumption; Corporate image; Customers; Distribution channels; Electronic commerce; Marketing; Purchase intention; Retail stores; Shopping; Fashion luxury consumption; Luxury retailers; Corporate image; Signalling theory
• ISSN: 0263-4503; 1758-8049
• DOI: 10.1108/MIP-10-2019-0493

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether customer intention to purchase luxury products from the online stores of fashion luxury retailers varies depending on their degree of corporate image and showrooming strategy, when the retailers do not have a wider store network in the region where customers live.Design/methodology/approachTwo scenario-based, between-subject experimental studies were conducted to test the hypotheses.FindingsFindings showed that both building corporate image and showrooms are effective in enhancing customer intention to purchase from online stores, without widely increasing the number of stores; however, building corporate image is more useful to high corporate-image retailers and showrooms are more appealing to low corporate-image retailers.Practical implicationsThe findings are useful to fashion luxury retailers, particularly those based in Western countries who seek to target customers in other regions, particularly those in developing countries.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on online fashion luxury consumption and multichannel retailing.